


Flowers

by imdex



Series: You Know the Rules [7]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Curiosity, F/M, Flower Crowns, Flowers, Fluff, Forbidden, Longing, Secret Relationship, Tension, Thalmor, Understanding, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:45:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6940315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imdex/pseuds/imdex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is within the sound of silence?<br/>Why does he care?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to take a vacation from writing...and I've found that doing so maybe wasn't the best idea(as you'll see below).  
> I was getting too overwhelmed and stressed about writing and now I'm overwhelmed and stressed because apparently breaks are kryptonite. 
> 
> *crawls under blankets and pouts*

"Breton."

Imani tensed visibly, still rightfully cautious of him, before again starting her routine slowly. 

"What is all this?"

She paused and glanced up at him, a small smile on her lips as she took into detail just how curious Rulindil looked, and addressed him quietly. 

"I'm making something."

"I see that, Breton. What is it?" 

_Loop, knot, pull_

"What does it look like?"

Rulindil's lips pulled tight, irritated that she refused to answer him, but intrigued by her crafting nonetheless. 

"What brings you to Solitude today, Emissary Rulindil?" 

Imani looked back up at him from the rock she was situated on and idly glanced back towards the market with a frown. "And without guards?"  
"Not that it's any concern of yours but I came to this wretched city alone. I am more than capable of defending myself and I doubt there'd be anyone _foolish_ enough to risk death at my hands."

Imani gave a slight hum of acknowledgement and continued on with her work as if the pointed undertone bounced right off her. After a few strained moments of silence she addressed him after again glancing around. 

"You…you can sit if you'd like." green eyes lifted to regard him with a timidly warm smile. 

The Altmer slowly looked around, noting that they were indeed alone, smart girl putting herself against the wall behind the cemetery. 

The Breton scooted on the bolder she was perched upon and made room for the mer as he sat. 

"I was walking back home the other day" _loop, knot, pull_ "and it made me remember a really…"  
She trailed off and picked up another flower. Rulindil felt her mood shift even with her guard up and regarded her silently. 

"It made me remember what life was like when life was simple." she stated a bit too softly…too hollow coming from one such as her. 

He frowned. Life hadn't always been simple for him either and just sitting by the human made his body bristle with apprehension. Rulindil knew this little tryst between them would mean his head if they were discovered. It truly was a most _abhorrent_ thought. Dying because of her. Dying because some part of him _wanted_ her. 

Eyeing the surroundings again heavily the mer leaned back against the wall and sighed quietly.  
_When life was simple_  
He flickered his gaze from her weaving to observe her profile. That sentence had been so _**heavy**_. The mer still didn't know anything about her but even in her youth he noticed now the Breton's features looked weathered beneath her façade and at once the mer wanted to know just _who_ the girl was and what'd she'd endured to pack so much understanding into her wondrous green eyes and exhaustion into her features. 

What had she gone through? What memories did she hold that caused her such discomfort? What pain could she possibly know? A sharp stab of what could only be described as _guilt_ cut through his mind, unpleasant, and out of place. Rulindil forced the bothersome emotion away. He'd dealt with it _plenty_ since that night. He glanced at the now humming girl. Still, he wondered, what did the Breton keep locked away in her silence? 

Horrified as he was Rulindil wanted to know _everything_ she'd endured in her life. 

The Altmer relaxed a bit more and watched her do the same. They were strangers, strangers that had shared little words in their short acquaintanceship, an acquaintanceship that shouldn't even exist. Yet in the existence of it there was similarities he didn't expect. Imani glanced around for another flower and stiffened as the mer slowly reached a gloved hand towards her, purple flower pinched securely between his fingers, and slowly looked up at him. 

His face, void of emotion as it ever was, held a surreal _softness_ she'd never expect from him. His eyes, the eyes that she'd thought cold and bottomless, stared back at her brimmed with emotion. Imani felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks as his pupils pulled in heavy contrast away from his iris's which she noted in the current lighting held a deep green undertone held a powerful and unexpected _understanding_ to what she'd said. 

She worried her bottom lip slightly and glanced down to look at the bright little flower in his grip and smiled as she took it. 

They sat in a comfortable silence, Rulindil ever on alert and always having a flower in hand for her, until the Breton looped the chain she'd created and tied it off. 

Imani smiled as she held up the halo of flowers to inspect it. Black eyes trailed from the colorful ring to the smiling Breton and some part of his heart _ached_ at the sight. She turned her attention to him and within her eyes Rulindil caught a certain curiosity that he was fairly familiar with. 

"Pull your hood down…please." 

He frowned but compelled by some strange emotion he refused to acknowledge he slowly did as she told him. Her glee exploded over her features and Imani shifted herself closer to him, pulling her legs up to rest on her knees before him. She glanced around, the shade hiding them now, and timidly met his gaze. She rose slightly on her knees and carefully placed the ring of flowers on his head.

"Breton."

She lowered herself back down and smiled playfully. 

"It's a good look on you."

"You have 3 seconds to remove it."

She flinched but rose back up to remove the flower crown from his head.  
She paused just in front of his face. 

"Rulindil."

He tilted his head slightly.  
Imani eyed him cautiously, this being the second time they'd been in each others company since her 'revenge'. He could see in her eyes she was warring over something before she decided against it. She removed the flowers from his head and sat back down, holding it on her lap, again allowing silence to take over. 

Until the mer shifted and took hold of the crown, Imani stiffening as she allowed him to pull it slowly from her hands. He placed the crown on her head and pulled her chin towards him. 

"They are nicer on you." he murmured slowly, unsure if he should compliment her or not, the concept of doing such a thing to a human still foreign. Gently he pressed his lips against hers and pulled her in closer. He wasn't sure what this was nor where this would go but Rulindil knew he'd see it through to whatever end might befall them. He only hoped that it would be worth it...in the end.


End file.
